Plastic compositions

ABSTRACT

The subject matter discloses a plastic composition comprising a first component and a second component, the first component comprising an organic element and a thermoplastic element and the second component comprising cross-linked hydrocarbon elastomers. The subject matter further discloses a process comprising mixing while heating under shear forces a first component comprising organic material and thermoplastic material with a second component comprising cross-linked hydrocarbon elastomers; to obtain a melt; processing the melt, the processing comprises at least cooling the melt to obtain a plastic composition comprising: organic element; thermoplastic element; and at least one cross-linked hydrocarbon elastomer element.

BACKGROUND ART

Approximately 280 million tires are discarded each year in the UnitedStates, only 30 million of which are retreaded or reused, leavingroughly 250 million scrap tires to be managed annually. Besides the needto manage these scraps tires, it has been estimated that there may be asmany as 2 to 3 billion tires that have accumulated over the years andare contained in numerous stockpiles. The continuously rising prices ofnatural rubber provide an economic driving force to the environmentalmotivation to recycling scrap tires.

A typical scrapped automobile tire weighs 9.1 kg. Roughly 5.4-5.9 kg (13lb) consists of recoverable rubber, composed of 35 percent naturalrubber and 65 percent synthetic rubber. A typical truck tire weighs 18.2kg and also contains from 60 to 70 percent recoverable rubber. Trucktires typically contain 65 percent natural rubber and 35 percentsynthetic rubber. The majority of modern tires are steel-belted radials,containing 10-15% metals and 10% cords (e.g. polyester, nylon or rayon).

Approximately 45 percent of the 250 million tires generated annually aredisposed of in landfills, stockpiles, or illegal dumps. About 7 percentare exported to foreign countries, 8 percent are recycled into newproducts, and roughly 40 percent are used as tire-derived fuel, eitherin whole or chipped form. Currently, the largest single use for scraptires is as a fuel in various industries. At least 9 million scrap tiresare processed into ground rubber annually. Ground tire rubber is used inrubber products (such as floor mats, carpet padding, and vehicle mudguards), plastic products and as a fine aggregate addition (dry process)in asphalt friction courses. Crumb rubber has been used as an asphaltbinder modifier (wet process) in hot mix asphalt pavements.

The tire rubber waste is divided into categories defined by their sizeand method of production, i.e. slit tires, shredded tires or chippedtires, ground rubber and crumb rubber.

Rubber recycling process begins with shredding. After most of the steeland reinforcing cords are removed, a secondary grinding takes place, andthe resulting rubber powder is ready for product remanufacture. Themanufacturing applications that can utilize this inert material arerestricted to those which do not require its devulcanization. In therubber recycling process, devulcanization begins with cleavage of thesulfur-sulfur bonds which cross-linked the vulcanized rubber molecules,thereby facilitating the formation of new cross-linkages. Two mainrubber recycling processes have been developed: the modified oil processand the water-oil process. With each of these processes, oil and areclaiming agent are added to the reclaimed rubber powder, which issubjected to high temperature and pressure for a long period (5-12hours) in special equipment and also requires extensive mechanicalpost-processing. The reclaimed rubber from these processes has alteredproperties and is unsuitable for use in many products, including tires.Typically, these various devulcanization processes have failed to resultin significant devulcanization, have failed to achieve consistentquality, or have been prohibitively expensive.

Currently, tire reinforcing fiber (or tire cords) has very few uses inrecycling and poses another significant problem in tire recyclingindustries. A rare example for a method for recycling tire cords isprovided by U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,974 which teaches a molding compositioncontaining 64-91% tire cord (polyamide) and 3-36% vulcanized rubberwhich is produced from extrusion pelletizing tire cord material. On theother hand production of products made of rubber originated from tiresrequires a step of devulcanization of the rubber. For example, in WO2009/019684 there is disclosed a method for manufacturing a polymericplastic product from used mineral oils, waste of hydrolysis of vegetableoils and/or animal fats as well as scrap automobile and/or other tiresand/or other rubber waste.

Mixing Plastic with vulcanized rubber is known to recycle vulcanizedrubber. For example, U.S. Pat. Application No. 2001/0056155 providescompression moldings from a mixture of ultra-low density polyethyleneand a filer which may comprise recycled rubber.

U.S. Pat. Application No. 2005/0279965 describes a method for producinga composite material comprising mixing crumb rubber from recycled tires,plastic and asphalt in a high shear mixer.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,558,773 and 6,703,440 disclose a compression moldingproduct made by blending and heating together rubber and a binder (e.g.ultra low density polyethylene) and extruding the blend followed bycompression molding into a desired product.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,128 teaches a method for processing discardedplastic and rubber with a binder to obtain a processable material anduseful products therefrom.

WO 2004/074594 teaches a panel for roofing or siding applicationspreferably made of a blend of rubber tire and drums.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter discloses a composite material comprising a firstcomponent and a second component, the first component comprising anorganic element and a thermoplastic element and the second componentcomprising at least one element selected from the group consisting ofvulcanized rubber and tire cords.

The subject matter further discloses a process comprising:

-   -   mixing while heating under shear forces a first component        comprising organic waste and thermoplastic waste with a second        component comprising at least one element selected from the        group consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords; to obtain        a melt;    -   processing the melt, the processing comprises at least cooling        the melt to obtain a composite material comprising: organic        element; thermoplastic element; and at least one element        selected from the group consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire        cords.

The subject matter further discloses a process comprising:

subjecting at least organic waste and thermoplastic waste to at leastone processing step selected from the group consisting of drying,particulating, mixing and heating under shear forces, to obtain a firstcomponent;

-   -   mixing while heating under shear forces the first component with        a second component comprising an element selected from the group        consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords, to obtain a        melt; and processing the melt, where the processing comprises at        least cooling to obtain a composite material comprising organic        element, thermoplastic element and at least one element selected        from the group consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is provided so as to enable any person skilledin the art to make use of the invention and the examples provided arerepresentative of techniques employed by the inventors in carrying outaspects of the present invention. It should be appreciated that whilethese techniques are exemplary of preferred embodiments for the practiceof the invention, those of skill in the art, in light of the presentdisclosure, will recognize that numerous modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention.

In the following, all indication of percentage (%) relate to therelative amounts of components in w/w units, namely weight of acomponent in 100 units of weight of the composite material. The relativeamount may be determined in the final product or may be determined inthe starting material(s), used to produce the composite material, beforethe described processing or in samples taken during processing beforeobtaining the resulting final, composite material. As will beappreciated, there may be some (typically small) variation between therelative amount of a component in an intake material (e.g. the firstand/or second components) before it is processed and the obtainedcomposite material due to a loss of matter such as moisture or othervolatiles, the formation of some volatile compounds during processing,decomposition of materials and other factors that should be taken intoaccount when comparing the content of a component in the compositematerial and that in an intake material.

All amounts or measures indicated below with the term “about” followedby a number should be understood as signifying the indicated number witha possible tolerance between approximately 10% above the indicatednumber and 10% below that number. For example, the term “about 10%”should be understood as encompassing the range of 9% to 11%; the termsabout 100° C. denotes a range of 90° C. to 110° C. In this connection,it is noted that when referring to weight % it is meant the respectiverelative % content (w/w) on a total dry basis, with water excluded.Further, it is noted that the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” includeplural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless thecontext requires otherwise, the term “comprise”, and variations such as“comprises” and “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusionof a stated element or step or group of elements or steps but not theexclusion of any element or step or group of elements and steps. In thisconnection, the term “consisting essentially of” is used to definecomposite materials which include the recited elements but exclude otherelements that may have an essential significance on the processing orresulting product. “Consisting of” shall thus mean excluding more thantrace elements of other elements. Embodiments defined by each of thesetransition terms are within the scope of this invention.

The present invention is aimed, inter alia, at providing, on the onehand, a solution for vulcanized rubber and tire waste material includingtire cords and on the other hand, for unsorted waste, such as domesticwaste. The solution is provided by processing a combination of the aboveto obtain a compacted composite material. The present disclosure thusprovides a composite material made from the aforesaid waste material, amethod of processing the waste material into a useful compositematerial, and articles of manufacture from the waste-derived compositematerial.

In the following description and claims use will be made, at times, witha variety of terms, and the meaning of such terms as they should beconstrued in accordance with the invention is as follows:

“organic waste” is used herein to denote, without being limited thereto,any carbon including waste that was or is living, such as garden waste(leaves, grass clippings, branches, hay, flowers, sawdust, woodchips andbark), food waste (fruit, vegetables, grains, meat, egg shells, bones,oil, fat, or dairy products) as well as others (paper, feces, dust,hair, wood ash). Since the composite material comprises organic materialit inherently comprises fingerprints that are unique to materials ofbiological origin e.g. DNA, proteins, chlorophyll, potassium, nitrogenand phosphorous etc., which are absent from materials of syntheticorigin. The organic waste typically includes organic fibers.

“organic element” is used herein to denote any carbon-based materialoriginating from organic waste. The organic element may be a combinationof various organic elements originally forming organic waste and it maybe organic waste that following processing according to the inventionunderwent some modification (chemical and/or physical) into a differentform of chemical material (i.e. that was not originally present in theorganic waste).

“organic fiber” is used herein to denote fibers of organic or man-madeorigin. In some embodiments, the organic fiber includes any one ofcellulose, hemicellulose and/or lignin and combinations of same, thelatter also known by the term “lignocellulosic biomass”. Other types oforganic fibers may be encompassed by this term, including other types ofcellulose and cellulose derivatives, and fibrous proteins, such as wooland silk.

“thermoplastic waste” or “thermoplastic” is used herein to denote solidor essentially solid material that turn upon heating above a meltingtemperature into a hot flowable material (soft, malleable, moldable,remoldable and, extrudable, weldable material) and reversibly solidifyinto an elastic state when cooled back below its melting temperature.Upon further cooling below the glass temperature, the thermoplasticadopts a solid state, typically amorphous. Thermoplastics include,without being limited thereto, polyolefins, polystyrene,polyvinylchloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polyacrylonitrile,polybutadiene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, nylon, polyurethane,co-polymers thereof and other material having a thermoplastic propertyas defined above.

“thermoplastic element” is used herein to denote a plastic material thatexhibits thermoplastic properties.

“substantially unsorted waste” or “SUW” is used herein to denote wastematerial, including, solid, semi-solid and/or fluid material, which mayinclude plant material, result from human and animal activities, mayoriginate from municipal waste, industrial waste (e.g. chemicals,paints, plastics, sand), agricultural waste (e.g. farm animal manure,crop residues), sludge, and may be waste including hazardous material,etc. The waste may be decomposable combustible waste, such as paper,wood, fabric or non-combustible waste, such as metal, glass, sand andceramics. The waste may also originate from landfills including oldlandfills. The waste is either unsorted, e.g. obtained as is, i.e. inthe form it is received at a waste management facility or at a wastedump or from a landfill; or the waste is partially sorted, i.e. fromwhich one or more elements are selectively removed before processing,albeit, the majority of the waste is retained as is. Such selectivelyremoved elements may have an economical value as recyclable materials orarticles, and may include, without being limited thereto, metal parts,e.g. batteries, aluminum and iron, glass, ceramics, paper, cardboard andplastic containers such as bottles, storage bowls, commercial plasticready to cook containers etc. When referring to majority of wasteretained, it is meant that at least about 80% by weight of the originalwaste material (i.e. of the unsorted, as is, waste) and at times above90% and even 95% by weight of the original waste material is retained.In other words, the elements that are removed from the waste does notexceed about 20%, about 10% or even about 5% of the weight of theoriginal waste.

“municipal solid waste” or “MSW” is used herein to denote residentialand/or commercial waste that is discarded by humans and industry. TheMSW may be composed wood, wood derived products such as paper,cardboard, tissues and the like, food scraps and plastics. In 2007 theEnvironmental Protection Agency reported in the United States that MSWwas composed of the following ingredients, as percent by weight: paper(32.7%), glass (5.3%), metals (8.2%), plastics (12.1%), rubber, leatherand textiles (7.6%), wood (5.6%), yard trimmings (12.8%), food scraps(12.5%), other (3.2%). Israel reported a similar analysis for 2005:organic matter (40%), plastic (13%, predominately thermoplastics),cardboard (8%), paper (17%), textiles (4%) disposable diapers (5%),other (7%), glass (3%) and metals (3%). These percentages are averagesand actual percentages will vary from location to location, but it isclear that the predominant components in these wastes are plastics andcellulosic type materials, e.g. wood and components derived from wood,e.g. paper, tissues, paperboard, etc. The MSW usually contains moisture.

The waste, in some embodiments SUW, may be used in accordance with theinvention as a wet material (namely, including water and/or moisture) oris used as dry material (i.e., comprising less than 0.1% w/w moisture).

“Drying” is used to denote the treatment of waste or any of the elementsof the composite material so as to remove therefrom liquids. Typically,the removal is of at least some amount of volatile liquids (i.e. liquidshaving a vapor pressure of at least 15 mmHg at 20 □C, e.g. water andethanol). Drying results in a dried waste or element, namely, wastecomprising not more than 10% moisture, not more than 5% moisture, and attimes even not more than 1% moisture. In some embodiments, some level(e.g. above 1%) of liquid (e.g. water) in the waste is maintained afterdrying. The amount of liquid removed from the waste can be controlled tofit the intended use of the eventually obtained composite material.Further, drying encompass any means of drying, e.g. by placing the wasteoutdoors and allowing it to dry, under a stream of dry air, in an ovenchamber or by squeezing the liquid out. In the context of the presentinvention, drying includes removal of at least 50% of the moisture, attimes 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95% and even, at times, up to 99% of themoisture initially contained in the waste or the element (this may bedetermined by weighting the waste or the element before and afterdrying). It is noted that 99-100% percent of the moisture does not haveto be removed from the waste and in some applications it is evenpreferred that some water remains in the waste for the subsequentprocedure for preparing the composite material or for the processing ofthe waste with the rubber and/or tire cords. In some embodiments, thewaste obtained after drying and used for preparing composite material asdisclosed herein has water and optionally other volatile liquids such asethanol, at content in the range of about 1% and about 11%.

“vulcanized rubber” is used herein to denote cross-linked rubberpolymers. The rubber polymers are typically hydrocarbon elastomers, suchas polyisoprene (either natural rubber e.g. gum rubber or syntheticrubber) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). The cross-linking typicallyincludes reaction of the rubber polymer with sulfur, peroxides or anyother cross linking agent known to those versed in the art, during whichindividual polymer chains are covalently interlinked to each other toyield a three dimensional matrix. The vulcanization of the rubberpolymers gradually transforms the elastomers into thermosets. The degreeof vulcanization may vary from one rubber to the other, depending on theapplication of the vulcanized rubber. It is to be understood that anyvulcanized rubber at any degree of vulcanization may be used. It shouldalso be noted that the vulcanized rubber may comprise a portion ofnon-vulcanized or devulcanized rubber, especially when the source ofvulcanized rubber is rubber residues and discarded vulcanized rubberfrom rubber manufacturing plants. Typically, non-vulcanized ordevulcanized rubber would not exceed more than 10% or even 5% or even aslow as 1% of the total weight of the vulcanized rubber mass. Thevulcanized rubber may also comprise rubber additives such as fillers andfibers including residues or contaminants to which the rubber wasexposed to during vulcanization reaction, during its use, or processing(e.g. retreading, recycling treatment or size reduction into crumbrubber).

The vulcanized rubber may be less than 100% pure and may comprise smallamounts of other residues in an amount of between 0.1 and 20% w/w of thetotal weight of the vulcanized rubber, at times the vulcanized rubbercomprises between 0.5 and 10% w/w residues, or between 1 and 5% w/wresidues. These residues include tire cords, steel, silica,anti-tackifying agents, oil, sand, iron, ash, and calcium carbonate.

In some embodiments, the “vulcanized rubber” is vulcanized rubber fromdisposed vulcanized rubber products such as, without being limitedthereto, used tires, bumpers, shoe soles, latex and rubber gloves,conveyor belts and may also arrive from industrial rubber residues anddiscarded vulcanized rubber from rubber manufacturing plants. The lattermay comprise some partially or non-vulcanized rubber as a minorcomponent. In some other embodiments, the vulcanized rubber originatesfrom virgin material, either natural or synthetic.

The discarded vulcanized rubber products (e.g. the tire waste) aregrinded into any kind of particulated form of rubber known in the artsuch as scrap, shreds slits chips, ground rubber and crumb rubber.

In some embodiments, the term “vulcanized rubber” may be any componentof tire waste, including, without being limited thereto, whole tire (thetread and the casing), or different forms of processing (sizing andshaping) of tire including tire slit, tire chips, ground rubber, crumbrubber, tire shreds, tire powder, tire cords etc.

In most cases the production of tire shreds or tire chips involvesprimary and secondary shredding by tire shredders. The discarded tiresalso undergo a size reduction process to typically obtain tire shreds,tire chips, ground rubber or crumb rubber. Similarly, when other sourcesof vulcanized rubber are used, these are also reduced by size to obtainprocessable particles.

“Tire” is to be understood as having its conventional meaning. Tires arepredominantly of vulcanized rubber, tire cords and steel. Otherconstituents may include carbon, minerals (e.g. zinc and sulfur).According to the Technical Guidelines on Identification and Managementof Used Tires, UNEP, Basal convention, 1999 on average tires comprise45-47% rubber, 21-22% carbon, 16-25% steel, about 5% tire cords, 1-2%zinc, about 1% sulfur and 5-8% additives. Therefore, all of thesecomponents may be present in tires waste as used herein.

“Tire shreds” is used to denote tire particulates that are irregularlyshaped and vary in size, with size varying from 300 to 460 mm long by100 to 230 mm as wide, down to as small as 100 to 150 mm in length. Thesize and shape may be controlled by the process of their preparation,the manufacturer instructions/equipment and condition. Typically, duringthe process of shredding tires, internal steel belt fragments along theedges of the tire shreds are exposed. The steel belt fragments aretypically removed from the tire shreds prior to processing according tothe invention. In some embodiments, the steel belt fragments are removedby a magnetic separator, gravimetric separation techniques, Eddy CurrentSeparator System and any other commonly used separation techniques.

“Tire chips” are used herein to denote processed tire shreds thattypically have a size from 76 mm down to 13 mm.

“Ground rubber” is used herein to denote rubber sized from 19 mm down to0.15 mm (No. 100 sieve) depending, inter alia, on the type of sizereduction equipment and the intended application. The production ofground rubber may be achieved by granulators, hammer mills, or finegrinding machines. Granulators typically produce particles that areregularly shaped and cubical with a comparatively low-surface area. Attimes, fiberglass belts or cords are separated from the fine rubberpowder, usually by an air separator. Ground rubber may be subjected to adual cycle of magnetic separation, then screened and recovered invarious size fractions.

“Crumb rubber” is used herein to denote rubber sized from 4.75 mm (No. 4sieve) down to less than 0.075 mm (No. 200 sieve). Any common methodthat is used to convert scrap tires to crumb rubber may be applied suchas the crackermill process, the granulator process and the micro-millprocess. The crackermill process, wherein scrap tires is passed betweenrotating corrugated steel drums, generates irregularly shaped tornparticles rendering a large surface area. These crumbs range in sizefrom approximately 4.75 mm to 0.5 mm (No. 4 to No. 40 sieve) and arecommonly referred to as ground crumb rubber. The granulator process isused to obtain granulated crumb rubber particles, by shearing apart therubber with revolving steel plates that pass at close tolerance. Fineground crumb rubber in the size range from 0.5 mm (No. 40 sieve) to assmall as 0.075 mm (No. 200 sieve) are obtained by a micro-mill process.Cryogenic techniques may also be used, wherein the rubber particles arebrought in contact with liquid nitrogen making the particles brittle andeasy to shatter into small particles. This technique is often usedbefore final grinding.

“Tire cords” which is used interchangeably with the term “tire fibers”denotes a high strength (high modulus) fibrous filamentary materialhaving a relatively low degree of shrinkage and exhibits a low degree ofhysteresis. Tire cords are used as reinforcement filaments which providetires better resistance to compression fatigue for rubber products. Thetire cords, while referring to tires, may be derived also from rubberconveyor belts, agricultural and plumbing rubber hosing etc. Tire cordsmay include, without being limited thereto, polyester (e.g. polyethyleneterephthalate, PET), polyamide (nylon), aromatic polyamide (e.g. aramidand p-aramid) rayon, cotton, carbon fibers or any other material used intire/belting industry. Other sources for the tire cords are virginmaterials i.e. materials such as fibers made of rayon, nylon andpolyesters, that were not derived from a used product, and fibers thatare equivalent to tire cords from the textile industry or textiles suchas old cloths or synthetic carpets.

Composite Material

In line with the above, the present disclosure provides a compositematerial comprising a first component and a second component, the firstcomponent comprising an organic element and a thermoplastic element andthe second component comprising at least one element selected from thegroup consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords.

The first component comprises at least an organic element and athermoplastic element.

In one embodiment, the organic element is in a range from at least about10% (w/w) of the total composite material, at times, about 15% w/w,about 20% w/w, about 25% w/w, about 30% w/w, about 35% w/w, about 40%w/w and even at least about 48% w/w out of the total weight of thecomposite material to an upper % w/w of up to about 49% w/w, typicallyless than about 45% w/w, about 40% w/w, about 35% w/w or even less thanabout 30% w/w of organic matter.

The first component also comprises a thermoplastic element. In someembodiments, the amount of the thermoplastic element is in a range fromat least 1% w/w, 2% w/w, 5% w/w or even 10% w/w of the total compositematerial to an upper % w/w of up to about 49% w/w, typically less thanabout 45% w/w, about 40% w/w, about 35% w/w or even less than about 30%w/w of thermoplastic element of the total composite material.

In some embodiments, the amount of the first component is between about10% w/w to about 50% w/w of the composite material.

The first component may also include plastic. The amount of plastic inthe first component may be from null to about 40% w/w, or to about 35%w/w or even to about 30% w/w. In some embodiments, the amount of plasticin the composite material is at least 1% w/w, 3% w/w, 5% w/w, 10% w/w oreven 15% w/w but not more than 30% w/w or 25% w/w or even not more than20% w/w. Some non-limiting examples of plastic material that may formpart of the first component and thus of the composite material includesynthetic polyolefins (e.g. high density polyethylene (HDPE), lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLPE),polypropylene (PP)); polystyrene (PS) (including high impactpolystyrene, HIPS), rigid and plasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC), ABS(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), PU (polyurethane), polyamides (PA),and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH).

According to some embodiments the first component also comprises aninorganic element such as metal, sand and clay. The amount of theinorganic element may range from at least about 1% w/w, about 2% w/w,about 5% w/w, about 10% w/w or at least about 15% w/w of inorganicmatter; but less than about 50% w/w, about 40% w/w, about 30% w/w oreven less than about 20% w/w in the composite material.

In some embodiments, the first component is derived from substantiallyunsorted waste (SUW). In yet some more specific embodiments, theunsorted waste is municipal solid waste (MSW). While the differentelements of the first component, i.e. the organic element, thethermoplastic element etc. may originate from the same source, e.g. thesame bulk of SUW/MSW, it may at times, be provided from differentsources. For example, the organic element may be provided from gardencuttings and/or organic domestic waste, the thermoplastic element may befrom collected plastic bottles and containers.

The second component comprises at least one element selected fromvulcanized rubber and tire cords. In some embodiment, the amount of thesecond component out of the combined first component and secondcomponent is in the range from at least about 50% w/w, about 55% w/w,about 60% w/w, about 65% w/w, about 70% w/w, about 75% w/w, about 80%w/w or at least about 85% w/w of the total weight of the compositematerial to an upper limit of less than about 90% w/w, about 85% w/w,about 80% w/w, about 75% w/w, about 70% w/w about 65% w/w or less thenabout 60% w/w of the total weight of the combined first component andsecond component.

In some embodiment, the amount by weight of vulcanized rubber out of thetotal combined first component and second component is in the range fromat least about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about45%, about 50% or at least about 55% of the total weight to an upperlimit of less than about 90% (when no tire cords are present), about 85%(when tire cords may also be present), about 80%, about 75%, about 70%about 65 or less then about 60% of the total weight.

In some embodiment, the amount of tire cords by weight out of the totalcombined first and second components is in the range from at least aboutnull, about 1%, about 2%, about 5%, about 10%, about 15%, about 20% orat least about 25% to an upper limit of less than about 30%, about 25%,about 20%, about 15%, about 10% about 5% or less then about 3%.

For the sake of clarity, as some tire cords are also considered to beplastic material (e.g. polyamide and polyester), it is to be understoodthat polymers in the form of cords being suitable for use as tire cordsare calculated as being tire cords only and not as part of thethermoplastic element in the first component. Similarly, plasticmaterial that is not in the form of cords that are suitable for use astire cords are calculated here as part of the thermoplastic element inthe first component.

Typically, the total weight of the combined first component and of thesecond component is the total weight of the composite material.

In one embodiment, the second component at least comprises vulcanizedrubber. Without being limited thereto, the addition of tire cords mayassist in increasing the mechanical strength of the resulting compositematerial. The length of the tire cords used also has an effect on thestrength of the resulting composite material: the longer the fiber, thestronger the resulting material. The increased mechanical strengthenables the use of the composite material various applications whereresilient materials are usually utilized.

At times, the composition, and as a result the properties of thecomposite material, may be fine-tuned by adding certain other elementseither during the preparation thereof or after it is formed.

Some non-limiting examples for other elements that may be beneficial toincorporate into the composite material are color pigments and activecarbon.

According to some embodiments the first component is processed wastecomprising at least organic waste and thermoplastic waste. The term“processed waste” refers to waste that was subjected to at least onemanipulation of drying, mixing while heating under shear forces,extruding, and optionally also particulating and sieving. At times theprocessing of the waste to obtain the first component may comprise allof aforementioned actions. The processed waste is obtained, in someembodiments as particulate material in the size range of between about0.01 mm and about 2.5 mm in diameter, but may be at times smaller thanabout 1.5 mm, even more typically particles having a size of betweenabout 0.7 mm and about 1.5 mm or smaller than about 0.7 mm in diameterare used. According to one embodiment, the first component isparticulate processed waste having a size range of between 0.01 mm and0.7 mm in diameter.

According to some embodiments, the waste is substantially unsorted waste(SUW) which may provide a processed waste as described in co-pendingPCT/IL2010/000027. This processed waste is prepared by processingsubstantially unsorted waste using the following minimal steps ofparticulating substantially unsorted waste that comprises organic matterand optionally plastics and heating while mixing the particulate wastematerial to a temperature of at least about 100□C under shear forces tothereby obtain the processed waste. The unsorted waste may be driedprior to processing.

The processed waste used, at times, as a first component may becharacterized by its surface energy. According to one embodiment of theinvention, the processed waste obtained from SUW has a surface energythat is above about 35 dyne/cm, preferably above about 40 dyne/cm andeven more preferably above 45 dyne/cm. For the sake of comparison, thesurface energy of polyethylene is about 35 dyne/cm and of polypropyleneis about 31 dyne/cm, and of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE/Teflon) 18-20dyne/cm. The processed SUW has thus a high surface energy, and in factthe processed SUW has a surface energy that is higher than polyolefins.This relatively high surface energy permits strong interaction at itssurface with other polar substances, such as paint, adhesives, wood,various stones and others, e.g. upon processing with the secondcomponent to form the composite material of the invention.

Further characteristics of the first component of the invention, whenusing processed unsorted waste, include,

-   -   a density above about 1.2 g/cm3, typically in the range of        1.2-1.7 g/cm3.    -   tensile modulus of elasticity above about 600 MPa (also referred        to at times by the terms elastic modules or tensile modulus).        The tensile modulus of elasticity is generally defined by a        material's resistance to be deformed elastically (i.e.        non-permanently) when a force is applied to it. The higher the        force required, the stiffer the material is.    -   Tensile strength above about 5 MPa, 6 MPa, 7 MPa and even above        8 MPa, namely, the stress at which a material fails or        permanently deforms under tension;    -   Flexural strength above about 7 MPa, above about 9 MPa and even        at about 11 MPa (also referred to at times by the term bend        strength), namely, the stress applied to a material at its        moment of rupture.    -   Flexural modulus above about 2,000 MPa, above about 3,000 MPa,        and even about 3,500 MPa which refers to the material's        stiffness in flexure, namely, its resistance to deformation by        an applied force.    -   Impact strength above about 12 J/m, above about 13 J/m, 15 J/m        and even of above about 17 J/m (notched Izod impact), which        refers to the ability of a material to withstand shock loading.    -   Charpy Impact above about 1.5 KJ/m2, 1.6 KJ/m2, 1.7 KJ/m2, or        even 1.8 KJ/m2 (Charpy Un-notched test) which refers to the        energy per unit area required to break a test specimen under        flexural impact.

In some embodiments, the composite material is comprised of 10-50% w/wof a first component, 20-90% w/w vulcanized rubber, and 0-30% w/w tirefibers, wherein the combined amount of vulcanized rubber and tire fibersis between 50 to 90% w/w. According to another embodiment the compositematerial also comprises up to 12%, typically up to 10% w/w volatileliquids (i.e. liquids having a vapor pressure of at least 15 mmHg at 20□C, e.g. water and ethanol).

According to one embodiment, the vulcanized rubber comprises tire crumb.

The composite material may further comprise fillers and other additivesthat are customary in article manufacturing such as absorbents,plasticizers, binders, carbon black, UV blockers, metals, weightadditives, sand, silica and pigments. The combined amount of theseadditives typically does not exceed more than 10%, or not more than 5%and even not more than 2% wt of the total weight of the compositematerial.

In yet some other embodiments, the composite material comprises as muchas 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, or 50% crumb rubber, 50%,45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, or 10% of the first component; 40%,35%, 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, or 10% cords and up to 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,2, 1% volatile liquids (e.g. water) by weight.

According to one embodiment, the minimal amounts of crumb rubber and ofthe first component are 50% and 10% by weight, respectively.

According to one embodiment, the composite material comprises organicelement, thermoplastic element and the second component consists ofvulcanized rubber. According to yet another embodiment the compositematerial comprises organic element, thermoplastic element and the secondcomponent consists of tire fibers.

Properties of the Composite Material

The composite material exhibits some thermoplastic behavior that may becharacterized by the following parameters (properties):

-   -   Charpy impact ranging from at least about 6.7 KJ/m2 to at most        about 17.5 KJ/m2 (determined by ISO 179 on a Ray-Ran tester),    -   maximum tensile strength ranging from at least about 1.3 MPa to        at most about 4.5 MPa (determined by ISO 527-1-2 on a M350-10KN        (Testometric) tester),    -   modulus of elasticity ranging from at least about 85 MPa to at        most about 740 MPa (determined by ISO 527-1-2 on a M350-10KN        (Testometric) tester),    -   elongation at brake ranging from at least about 2.0% to at most        about 9.4% determined by ISO 527-1-2 on a M350-10KN        (Testometric) tester),    -   flexural strength ranging from at least about 2 MPa to at most        about 9.4 MPa (determined by ISO 178 on a M350-10KN        (Testometric) tester), and    -   flexural modulus ranging from at least 341 MPa to at most about        771 MPa (determined by ISO 178 on a M350-10KN (Testometric)        tester).

The composite material was also found to be injectable, e.g. whenheated, may be subjected to injection molding.

Further, the composite material is found to hold tire-derivedpollutants, such as aromatic hydrocarbons, (PAHs) and certain metalssuch as iron, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, manganese, intact in thecomposite material and thus minimize or eliminate environmental hazardsassociates with disposal of tire waste. The holding of pollutingsubstances may be determined by leaching testes, such as described byprocedures such as EPA SLO-846 method 1310 and as compared to leachingof the second component according to the invention without beingcombined with the first component as described herein.

Other properties that can define the composite material include:

-   -   density;    -   melting & softening point;    -   low temperature flexibility;    -   spiral flow;    -   hardness (Shore A);    -   elemental analysis;    -   leaching in water, brine and sea water;    -   tensile at break;    -   elongation;    -   modulus at 100%;    -   heat deflection temperature;    -   creep resistance; flexural modulus    -   Charpy Impact;    -   thermal, electrical, acoustical conductivity; and    -   aging (UV, soil burial, brine water, ozone etc.).

Method of Preparation

The present disclosure also provides a process comprising:

-   -   mixing while heating under shear forces a first component        comprising organic waste and thermoplastic waste and a second        component comprising at least one element selected from the        group consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire fibers to obtain        a melt;    -   processing the melt, the processing comprises at least cooling        the melt to obtain a composite material comprising:    -   organic element;    -   thermoplastic element; and    -   at least one element selected from the group consisting of        vulcanized rubber and tire fibers.

Within the same aspect there is also provided a process comprising:

-   -   subjecting at least organic waste and thermoplastic waste to at        least one processing step selected from the group consisting of        drying, particulating, mixing and heating under shear forces, to        obtain a first component;    -   mixing while heating under shear forces the first component with        a second component comprising an element selected from the group        consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords, to obtain a        melt; and    -   processing the melt, where the processing comprises at least        cooling to obtain a composite material comprising:    -   organic element;    -   thermoplastic element; and    -   at least one additional element selected from the group        consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords.

Yet, within this aspect of the invention, there is provided a processcomprising:

-   -   mixing while heating under shear forces a first component        comprising processed waste with a second component comprising at        least one element selected from the group consisting of        vulcanized rubber and tire cords to obtain a melt; and    -   processing the melt, wherein the processing comprises at least        cooling to obtain a composite material comprising:    -   organic element;    -   thermoplastic element; and    -   at least one element selected from the group consisting of        vulcanized rubber and tire cords

In one embodiment, the first component is processed unsorted waste. Theprocessed unsorted waste may be obtained by mixing and heating dried andparticulated SUW, under shear forces and finally extruded as explainedin detail in co-pending PCT/IL2010/000027, which is hereby incorporatedby reference. In one embodiment, the processing of the SUW comprises atleast one of particulating, drying, blending, sieving and mixing whileheating, extruding the melt that is obtained after mixing while heatingunder shear forces, granulating and sieving. At times the processing ofthe SUW to obtain the first component may comprise all of aforementionedactions. The processed SUW is obtained, in some embodiments asparticulate material.

A finding of the present process is that while heating for the purposeof recycling of vulcanized rubber requires high temperatures and highpressure, the composite material of the invention can be prepared atmuch lower temperatures and pressure than other recycling processes ofvulcanized rubber. Thus the process of the invention may be regarded amore energy efficient process as compared to those used to recyclevulcanized rubber.

In some embodiments, the first component and the second component aremixed before mixing while heating under shear forces.

The amount of the first component and of the second component may vary.In some embodiments, the first component is in an amount between about10% out of the total weight of the combined amount of the firstcomponent and second component (w/w) to about 50% w/w and the secondcomponent is in an amount of between about 50% w/w to about 90% w/w ofthe combined amount of the first component and the second component.

The first component comprises organic waste. The amount of the organicwaste may be in a range from a lower % by weight of at least about 10%w/w of the total mixture, at times, about 15%, about 20%, about 25%,about 30%, about 35%, about 40% and even at least about 48% by weightout of the total weight of the combined first and second components toan upper % of up to about 49%, typically less than about 45%, about 40%,about 35% or even less than about 30% of organic matter by weight out ofthe total weight of the combined components.

The first component also comprises thermoplastic waste. In someembodiments, the amount of the thermoplastic waste is in a range from alower at least 1%, 2%, 5% or even 10% by weight out of the total weightof the combined first and second components to an upper % of up to about49%, typically less than about 45%, about 40%, about 35% or even lessthan about 30% of thermoplastic waste by weight out of the total weight.

The second component comprises at least one element selected from thegroup consisting of vulcanized rubber and tire cords. In one embodiment,the amount of the second component out of the total weight of thecombined first and second components may range from at least about 50%,about 55%, about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80% or atleast about 85% by weight of the total weight of the combined first andsecond components to an upper limit of less than about 90%, about 85%,about 80%, about 75%, about 70% about 65 or less then about 60% byweight of the total weight of the combined components.

The amount by weight of vulcanized rubber out of the total weight of thecombined first and second component may range from at least about 20%,about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about 45%, about 50% or atleast about 55% to an upper limit of less than about 90% (e.g. when notire cords are present at all), about 85%, about 80%, about 75%, about70% about 65 or less then about 60% of the total weight of the combinedcomponents.

When the second component comprises tire rubber and tire cords, the tirerubber is selected from the group consisting of tire slit, chippedtires, ground rubber and crumb rubber and the tire cords are selectedfrom the group consisting of at least one of polyester, polyamide,polyvinyl alcohol and rayon.

In one embodiment, the heating under shear forces is at a temperature inthe range of between about 100□C to about 200□C. In some embodiments,the temperature is at any range of between a lower end of 115□C, 120□C,or 125□C to an upper end of 160□C and 180□C.

The mixing while heating may be preceded with a pre-mixing (withoutheating) of the first component and the second component. In addition,at times, particulating may take place prior to mixing. For example,when the first component is processed unsorted waste, the latter may beparticulated and sieved before it is mixed with the at least one ofvulcanized rubber and tire fibers. In some embodiments, the firstcomponent particulate has a size range of between about 0.01 mm andabout 2.5 mm in diameter, in some embodiments between 0.01 mm and about0.7 mm, in some embodiments between about 0.7 mm and about 1.5 mm and insome embodiments between about 1.5 and about 2.5 Particulating may bemet by grinding, shredding, slitting, dicing, crushing, crumbing,chopping by conventional size reduction processes, including, withoutbeing limited thereto, shredders, grinders, choppers, granulators,which, when necessary, may be equipped with blades, hammers or platesthat are made of robust materials such as stainless steel or titanium.

Further, prior to mixing while heating, drying may take place. Thedrying may be of the first and/or second components as received, onparticulated matter. Drying may be achieved by any means, e.g. byplacing the waste outdoors and allowing it to dry, under a stream of dryair, in an oven chamber or by squeezing the liquid out. In oneembodiment, the first component is SUW which is subjected to drying andparticulating prior to mixing with the second component.

In some embodiments, prior to mixing while heating separating ofelements of economical value may take place. Such elements may include,recyclable material or articles, such as batteries, aluminum and iron,glass, ceramics, paper, cardboard etc. The separation of such elementsfrom the particulate matter may be executed by the use of suitablesieves, magnetic separators, eddy current separators, floatationsystems, gravimetric separation techniques, etc. For example, loosesteel cords may be separated from the shredded tires by means of passingthe shredded tires upon a conveyor under a magnet or a series ofmagnets. Some amount of loose steel cords may still remain in the secondcomponent. It is estimated that vulcanized rubber may still about 0.1,0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4 or even up to 5% by wt of the total weight of therubber forming the second component.

It is noted that the process disclosed herein does not require theremoval of tire shreds and/or tire cords typically removed from tirerecycling processes. In other words, the process disclosed herein allowsrecycling of these elements as well. Without being bound by theory, itis believed that the presence of the tire shreds and tire cords affectsthe mechanical properties of the resulting composite material.

The mixing may also involve the addition of at least one plasticmaterial. Similarly, the mixing of the plastic material may be prior to,or during the mixing while heating under shear forces. In other words,the plastic may be added at a pre-mixing stage, as described above, orit may be added while heating and mixing. The plastic may be selectedfrom the group consisting of polyethylene, polyvinylchloride,polystyrene, polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomers polypropylene andmixtures thereof. The amount of plastic added may be such to obtain inthe melt an amount of thermoplastic material in a range of between 1%and 49%.

Further, various additional additives may be added either before orduring the step of mixing while heating under shear forces, e.g. so asto impart certain desired properties to the resulting compositematerial. Examples of additives used as fillers may include, withoutbeing limited thereto, sand, minerals, recycled tire material, glass,wood chips, thermosetting materials, other thermoplastic polymers,gravel, metal, glass fibers and particles, etc. These fillers mayoriginate from recycled products; however, virgin materials may also beemployed. Other additives may be added to improve the appearance,properties, texture or scent of the composite material such as pigments,odor masking agents (e.g. activated carbon), oxidants (e.g. potassiumpermanganate) or antioxidants.

Further, curing agents may be added such as sulphur, peroxides prior toor during the heating while mixing. It is noted that the first andsecond component as well as any other additives may be introduced intothe process simultaneously or sequentially, before, during and after theprocess. Also, the addition of the various elements may be in portions.For example, the compounder may receive first a portion of the firstcomponent, e.g. SUW, followed by the introduction of the secondcomponent, e.g. vulcanized rubber. Further, the compounder may includevarious inlets for introducing the various elements at differentlocations, thus, for example, allowing the introduction of one componentafter other components have already been subjected to some level ofheating while mixing under shear forces.

The mixing while heating under shear forces may be performed in acompounder selected from the group consisting of extruder, internalmixer (Banbury), co-kneader, and continuous mixer. The mixing whileheating using shear forces typically results in a homogenous melt/blend.

In some embodiments, the extruder comprises a heated barrel containingrotating therein a single or multiple screws. When more than a singlescrew is used, the screws may be co-rotated, counter-rotated planetaryrotated (such as in a planetary roller extruder). Screws may beintermeshing, or non-intermeshing. The extrusion apparatus may be asingle extruder or combinations of extruders (such as in tandemextrusion) which may be any one of the extruders known in the plasticsindustry, including, without being limited thereto, single screwextruder, tapered twin extruder, tapered twin single extruder, twinscrew extruder, multi-screw extruder. One suitable type of extruder inthe context of the invention is a single screw extruder. In someembodiments the extruder is equipped with a venting zone. In some otherembodiments the extruder comprises a nozzle that is chilled duringextrusion. In yet some other embodiments, the extruder may be segmentedand configured so as to apply differential temperature and/or pressureas desired.

Sufficient shearing, mixing and residence time are generally required soas to allow the combined components to reach the required/desiredtemperature, which is determined by obtaining a composite materialexhibiting the thermoplastic behavior. The desired material temperaturecan be reached by two ways: either by heat absorbed from the compounderor other device, or by friction caused by the shearing forces, or acombination of the two ways. It is typical to add heat to the processand not to rely solely on frictional heating caused by the shearing andmixing. Thus, according to one embodiment, the compounder is set to atemperature of between about 100° C. and 200° C., and at times to atemperature of between about 120° C. and 190° C., or even between about140° C. and about 180° C. The temperature of the material (as measuredby a thermocouple device, either internally or upon exit from the die)is usually higher than the machine set temperatures, due to heatingcaused by shearing forces.

It should be appreciated that under conditions of the process disclosedherein, namely, heating under shear forces at a temperature above 100°C., the resulting composite material may be regarded as sterile, namely,that pathogens contained in the components prior to the process, such asin the unsorted waste are destroyed.

The hot melt resulting from the mixing while heating is then cooled toambient temperatures (e.g. room temperatures which are typically around25° C.) to obtain the composite material.

In some embodiments, the composite material may be re-processed underthe same or different conditions used for its formation. In oneembodiment, the composite material is subjected to one or more cycles ofheating under shear forces at the same conditions used for itsproduction.

Preparation of Articles of Manufacture from Composite Material and OtherUses

In another aspect, there is also provided a process comprising providinga composite material as disclosed herein and subjecting the compositematerial to at least heating at a machine temperature of between 100° C.to 180° C. and at least one additional process step selected from thegroup consisting of extruding, molding, compression molding, whereby anarticle of manufacture is obtained, having a desired shape.

In accordance with some embodiments, the composite material may bereheated to a temperature in a range of between above about 100° C.above 130° C. and even above 140° C. an up to about 160° C., 180° C. or200° C., at which it turns into soft, flowable matter. Additives andfillers as detailed above are also optionally added to the compositematerial.

Table 1 lists possible products (articles of manufacture) that can beprepared by processing the composite material disclosed herein,alongside parameters that are characterize the specified product.

TABLE 1 articles of manufacture from composite material ApplicationRequired parameter Wheels and castors for Dimensional stability,elasticity, Garbage Cans and resilience, wear and tear resistance,Shopping pulleys abrasion resistance, oil & detergents resistance SignPost Base Weight wear and tear resistance, non-leaching, age resistance,standing in extreme weather condition, UV resistance Transport (forklift) pallet Resilience, impact resistance, non- leaching Road andtraffic signs and Age, weather and UV resistance, impact protectionresistance Acoustic insulation Wear resistance, leaching, emissionsFloor padding and wear and tear resistance, abrasion carpetingresistance elasticity and resilience, resistance to domestic substances,dimension stability Ballistic and projectiles Resilience, teatresistance, resistance protection to tear propagation

In some embodiments, the composite material are used as an additive tomanufacturing processes, to be added, for example, to a thermoplastichot melt comprising virgin or recycled plastic.

The composite material of the invention is also used in variety ofindustrial processes, to form a variety of semi-finished or finishedproducts. Non-limiting examples include building material, panels,boards, pallets, pots, component of plant growth substrate, and manyothers.

In such semi-finished or finished products, the composite material isthe sole component or is in a mixture with other materials.

In some embodiments, the process comprises preparing an articlecomprising two or more materials adhered to one another to formlaminates and the like, where at least one layer comprises the compositematerial. Such multi-layer structures may be obtained by lamination,co-calendering, co-compression, co-extrusion, co-injected or tandemextrusion of two or more materials (one being the composite material ofthe invention) so as to form the multi-layer product.

Further, the composite material is added in some embodiments as filler,for example, to be mixed with bitumen (asphalt), to yield a modifiedbitumen material, like polymer modified bitumen. The modified bitumenmaterial may be used as a substitute for bitumen in the construction ofroads, pavements, platforms, waterproofing membranes, polymeric asphaltand so forth. According to one embodiment the bitumen-like material isprepared by mixing the composite material with bitumen in a mixer. Thecomposite material is mixed at any amount with the bitumen, from even 1%up to 95% of the mixed composite material/bitumen. In one embodiment,the bitumen like material is formed from about 90% composite materialand in fact, the bitumen is used as an additive to the compositematerial. It has been found that the resulting bitumen like material isinjectable and can be processed using an extruder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF NON-LIMITING EXAMPLES Example 1

Processing Equipment

In the following processes various devices and systems were employed. Itis to be understood that while some of the devices were constructed bythe inventor, all are based on conventional devices. These include ashredder, a single screw extruder, a compounder (Banbury), an injectionmolding machine, a compression molding press and any other machine inwhich the material undergoes shearing and/or heat, such as a granulator,pelletizing press, mill etc.

Two single screw extruders were employed in the following examples. Thefirst is a self-designed extruder (screw diameter: 70 mm, screw length:2650 mm, clearance of screw to barrel: 0.1 mm, die and adapter length190 mm, die opening diameter: 10 mm) and the second is an Erema RM 120TE (screw diameter: 120 mm, screw length: 4000 mm, clearance of screw tobarrel: 0.1-0.2 mm, die and adapter length 370 mm, die opening diameter:50 mm), both having a venting zone.

Example 2

Processing of SUW

An extrudate from SUW was prepared following the extrudate II processdescribed in PCT/IL2010/000027 Substantially unsorted waste (SUW),collected from private households was shredded in a shredder (type ZSS850 ex Zerma, China) equipped with steel blades and then ground in agranulator (granulator type GSH 500/600 ex Zerma, China) into particlesof a size of between several microns to several centimeters. The groundparticulates were then sieved to collect particulates in the range of100-200 mm in diameter. The 100-200 mm particulates flow passes througha magnet that removes at least some of the original magnetic metalliccontent of the SUW. After separation of magnetic metals the remainingparticulate flow is ground (granulator type GSH 500/600 ex Zerma, China)and sieved again to obtain particulates having an approximate size of 20mm. The ground particulates were then air dried for a few days, driedunder a stream of dry air, until at least some, but not all liquid wasremoved to obtain dried particulates. The dried particulates were fedinto single screw extruder (Erema) that was set at a temperature of180□C and a rotation rate of about 50 rpm. The particulated material wasprocessed in the extruder with a residence time of between about 3minutes to about 5 minutes. The extrudate was cooled to room temperature(herein “extrudate II”). Visual inspection of the extrudate suggestedthat it contains fibrous material as well as substances having a meltingpoint higher than the process temperature (e.g. glass and metal). Theextrudate was subsequently ground by a granulator (Zerma) and sieved toobtain particulates having an approximate size smaller than 0.7 mm indiameter. Larger particulates were reground and sieved again and soforth until substantially all of the SUW was particulated into particlessmaller than 0.7 mm in diameter.

Example 3

Preparation of a SUW/Crumb Rubber 1:1 (Wt/Wt) Material

Crumb rubber made from discarded tire was obtained from a tire recyclingplant (Tyrec), in a size range of between 0.3 and 5 mm divided to threesize categories: under-0.5 mm, 0.5-2 mm, 2-4 mm. The tire shreds wereobtained by cutting discarded tires in a cutter shredder (type BDR 2000ex MTB, France). After shredding, tire cords were separated from thetire shreds. When necessary, the tires or the tire shreds were firstdried before further processing with an air blower, reaching a moisturecontent of no more than 10% wt. The tire shreds were then passed on aconveyer under a magnet to separate loose steel cords.

Particulates of SUW extrudate that were obtained according to Example 2and crumb rubber 1:1 (wt/wt) were mixed in a self mixer at 23 rpm toobtain a substantially homogeneous mixture. It should be noted thatwhile the SUW and the crumb rubber were basically mixed homogenously,the tire cords tend to aggregate in bulks with the main matrix. Themixture was introduced into the home made single screw extruderdescribed above which was set at a machine temperature of 180° C. and ascrew rotation rate of 50 rpm having a temperature gradient from 110° C.to 180° C. for a residence time of about 3 minutes. The fumes from theventing zone were removed with a vent. The melt was transferred aftercooling to a Demag, Ergotech Viva 80-400 injection machine (temperature:150 □C, injection pressure: 40-90 bar, injection speed: 30-50 mm/s) or a250 tones press to obtain injection molding or compression moldingarticles, respectively. Evidently, the mixing of SUW extrudate with thecrumb rubber allowed the injection molding and extrusion of vulcanizedrubber as if it were a thermoplastic material.

Example 4

Preparation of a SUW/Crumb Rubber/Tire Cords 4:5:1 (Wt/Wt) Material

Crumb rubber and SUW were obtained as detailed in Example 3. Tire cordswere obtained from a tire recycling plant (Tyrec). The tire cordscomprise nylon (polyamide 6 and polyamide 6,6), rayon and polyester.

SUW, crumb rubber and tire cords 4:5:1 (wt/wt) were mixed in a selfmixer at 23 rpm to obtain a substantially homogeneous mixture. It shouldbe noted that while the SUW and the crumb rubber were basically mixedhomogenously, the tire cords tend to aggregate in bulks with the mainmatrix. The mixture was introduced into the home made single screwextruder described above which was set at a machine temperature of 180°C. and a screw rotation rate of 50 rpm having a temperature gradientfrom 110° C. to 180° C. for a residence time of about 3 minutes. Thefumes from the venting zone were removed with a vent. The melt wastransferred after cooling to a Demag, Ergotech Viva 80-400 injectionmachine (temperature: 150 □C, injection pressure: 40-90 bar, injectionspeed: 30-50 mm/s) or a 250 tones press to obtain injection molding orcompression molding articles, respectively. Evidently, the mixing of SUWextrudate with the crumb rubber allowed the injection molding andextrusion of vulcanized rubber as if it were a thermoplastic material.

Example 5

Preparation of a SUW/Crumb Rubber/Tire Cords 4:5:1 (Wt/Wt) Material

Crumb rubber and SUW were obtained as detailed in Example 3. Tire cordsequivalents were obtained from discarded carpets. The discarded carpetscomprise nylon (polyamide 6 and polyamide 6,6) and polyester fibers.

SUW, crumb rubber and tire cords 4:5:1 (wt/wt) were mixed in a selfmixer at 23 rpm to obtain a substantially homogeneous mixture. It shouldbe noted that while the SUW and the crumb rubber were basically mixedhomogenously, the tire cords tend to aggregate in bulks with the mainmatrix. The mixture was introduced into the home made single screwextruder described above which was set at a machine temperature of 180°C. and a screw rotation rate of 50 rpm having a temperature gradientfrom 110° C. to 180° C. for a residence time of about 3 minutes. Thefumes from the venting zone were removed with a vent. The melt wastransferred after cooling to a Demag, Ergotech Viva 80-400 injectionmachine (temperature: 150 □C, injection pressure: 40-90 bar, injectionspeed: 30-50 mm/s) or a 250 tones press to obtain injection molding orcompression molding articles, respectively. Evidently, the mixing of SUWextrudate with the crumb rubber allowed the injection molding andextrusion of vulcanized rubber as if it were a thermoplastic material.

Example 6

Mechanical Properties of SUW/Crumb Rubber/Tire Cords Wt:Wt Material

Mechanical properties of injection molding products made from thecomposition were determined following ISO standards. The products wereprepared according to Example 4 except for making the necessarymodifications in the components ratios. The results are presented inTable 2. For the sake of comparison the mechanical properties of neatSUW extrudate, that was taken from the same batch which was mixed withthe rubber. Tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus weredetermined according to the ISO 527-2-1 standard and flexural strengthand flexural modulus were determined following the ISO 178 standard, allusing a Testometric M350-10KN universal materials testing machine.Charpy impact was determined according to the ISO 179 standard on aRay-Ran Advanced Pendulum Impact Tester.

TABLE 2 Mechanical properties of samples made by injection moldings asdetermined by ISO standards Max. SUW/Rubber Charpy Tensile Modulus ofElongation Flexural Flexural crumb/cords Impact Strength Elasticity atBreak Strength Modulus (wt:wt) (KJ/m2) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (MPa) (MPa) 1:0:01.72 4.00 702.3 0.42 2.55 53.06 5:5:0 37.01 5.34 224.75 15.38 5.98198.33 3:7:0 17.51 1.3 85.7 8.6 2.0 427.5 4:6:0 13.85 1.7 233.1 4.7 3.3379.1 5:5:0 9.05 2.2 607.3 2.1 4.4 771.6 4:5:1 8.53 4.3 627.3 2.8 8.7526.2

It is evident from the mechanical properties presented in Table 2 thatthe mixing of SUW with rubber renders increased elasticity and increasedtoughness in comparison with the neat SUW extrudate.

Example 7: Mechanical Properties of SUW/(Rubber Crumb)/(Tire Cords)Compositions with Added Polypropylene (PP)

In order to test the effect of increased content of plastic in thecomposition beyond the statistical plastic distribution in MSW (about13%) PP was added to the mixture of the two components (the processedSUW and the tire waste source). The composition and the injectionmolding samples were prepared as described in Example 3 with theexception of making the necessary changes in the components proportions.Mechanical properties of the injection molding products were determinedfollowing ISO standards. The results are presented in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Mechanical Properties of samples made by injection molding ofthe composition comprising polypropylene (PP) SUW/crumb/ Charpy Max.Tensile Modulus of Elongation Flexural Flexural cords/PP Impact StrengthElasticity at Break Strength Modulus (w/w) (KJ/m2) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (MPa)(MPa) 30:50:0:20 7.92 4.5 741.4 2.4 9.4 653.6 25:50:10:15 8.66 3.8 578.52.7 7.5 423.3

Example 8

Mechanical Properties of Compositions of the Invention ComprisingAdditives

The effect of additives on the mechanical properties of compositionaccording to this invention was also tested. To this end, compositionscomprising an odor absorbent (active carbon) and/or a coupling agent(CA, Bondyram® 7100 purchased from Polyram, Israel) were preparedaccording to the procedure described in Examples 3 and 4. The additiveswere added to the mixture of the processed SUW and the second component(tire powder and/or tire cords). The results are summarized in tables 4and 5.

TABLE 4 Mechanical properties of samples made by injection molding ofcomposite material comprising 2% coupling agent additives (themechanical properties of the closest composition without the additive ispresented in parentheses). SUW/crumb/ Charpy Max. Tensile Modulus ofElongation Flexural Flexural cords/PP Impact Strength Elasticity atBreak Strength Modulus (w/w) (KJ/m2) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (MPa) (MPa)28:50:0:20  8.53 4.3 627.3 2.8 8.7 526.2 (7.92) (4.5) (741.4) (2.4)(9.4) (653.6) 23:50:10:15  9.95 3.8 520.2 3.3 5.2 397.4 (8.66) (3.8)(578.5) (2.7) (7.5) (423.3) 48:50:0:0 10.72 1.9 268.7 3.9 4.4 341.0(9.05) (2.2) (607.3) (2.1) (4.4) (771.6) 38:50:10:0 13.52 1.9 267.9 3.94.1 603.5 (9.4)  (1.8) (370.4) (2.1) (4.6) (409.0)

TABLE 5 Mechanical properties of compositions of the inventioncomprising 3% active carbon and 2% coupling agent (the mechanicalproperties of the closest composition without additives is presented inparentheses for sake of comparison). SUW/crumb/ Charpy Max. TensileModulus of Elongation Flexural Flexural cords/PP Impact StrengthElasticity at Break Strength Modulus (w/w) (KJ/m2) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (MPa)(MPa) 35:50:10:0 10.23 1.9 343.8 3.0 3.7 359.2 (9.4)  (1.8) (370.4)(2.1) (4.6) (409.0) 25:50:0:20  7.37 4.1 708.8 2.7 8.4 650.3 (7.92)(4.5) (741.4) (2.4) (9.4) (653.6)

Example 9

Other Mechanical Properties of SUW/Crumb Rubber 1:1 wt/wt Material

The products exhibit improved resistance to degradation relative to thecorresponding rubber products. There are several methods to determineresistance to degradation which may be caused by various factors such asthermal oxidation, UV radiation, salt water, acid rain, and so on. Thetests are performed according to a standard analysis protocol fordeterioration of rubber. For example, dynamic determination of ozonedegradation may follow the JIS K6259 protocol, surface cracking, andsurface ozone cracking in a chamber, surface ozone cracking outdoors orin chamber, dynamic ozone cracking in a chamber may follow the ASTMstandards D518, D1149, D1171 and D 3395, respectively. These standardsaddress material testing and exposure to ozone, either in a chamber(indoor) or outdoors, as well as with static and dynamic testconditions. Other tests include progressive stress accelerated life test(PS-ALT), The mechanical properties of the compression molding articlescan be determined as well, following the appropriate standard and usingstandard testing machines.

Example 10

Use of SUW/Rubber/Tire Cords as a Binder in a the Preparation of Bitumen

A composition of SUW/rubber/tire cords 40:50:10% wt is mixed in a mixerwith 10% wt bitumen at a mixing rate of 23 rpm and at a temperature of25° C. until the mixture seemed to be homogeneous. The obtained bitumenis a softer product in comparison to a product made without the bitumen.The mechanical properties of the product (e.g. Charpy impact, max.tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, elongation at break, flexuralstrength, and flexural modulus) are tested according to standardanalysis protocols.

1. A plastic composition, consisting essentially of: (i) a firstcomponent comprising an organic element and a thermoplastic element; and(ii) a second component comprising cross-linked hydrocarbon elastomers;wherein the composite material comprises at least 40% w/w cross-linkedhydrocarbon elastomers; wherein the organic element of the firstcomponent is between 10% w/w to 49% w/w of the composite material;wherein the amount of thermoplastic element in the composite material isbetween 1% w/w to 40% w/w of the composite material; wherein thethermoplastic element of the first component is selected from the groupconsisting of: at least one ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, at leastone polyolefin, at least one polyethylene, at least one polypropylene,at least one polystyrene, at least one polyvinylchloride, at least oneacrylonitrile butadiene styrene, at least one polyethyleneterephthalate, at least one polyacrylonitrile, at least onepolybutadiene, at least one polycarbonate, nylon, at least onepolyurethane, at least one polyamide, and at least one co-polymer of atleast one of: the at least one polyolefin, the at least onepolyethylene, the at least one polypropylene, the at least onepolystyrene, the at least one polyvinylchloride, the at least oneacrylonitrile butadiene styrene, the at least one polyethyleneterephthalate, the at least one polyacrylonitrile, the at least onepolybutadiene, the at least one polycarbonate, the nylon, the at leastone polyurethane, and the at least one polyamide; and wherein thecomposite material has thermoplastic properties and a modulus ofelasticity of at least 80 MPa, determined on a Testometric M350-10KNuniversal materials testing machine in accordance with ISO 527-1-2. 2.The plastic composition of claim 1, wherein the amount of the firstcomponent is between about 10% w/w to about 50% w/w of the total weightof the composite material.
 3. The plastic composition of claim 1,wherein the amount of the cross-linked hydrocarbon elastomers is between45% w/w to about 90% w/w of the composite material.
 4. The plasticcomposition of claim 1, wherein the amount of the second component isnot more than about 90% w/w of the composite material, the amount of thecross-linked hydrocarbon elastomers in the composite material is atleast about 40% w/w to not more than about 89% w/w of the compositematerial, and wherein the second component further comprises tire cordsin an amount of not more than about 30% w/w of the composite material.5. The plastic composition of claim 4, wherein the amount of the tirecords is between about 1% w/w to about 30% w/w.
 6. The plasticcomposition of claim 1, wherein the organic element and thermoplasticelement originate from substantially unsorted waste (SUW).
 7. Theplastic composition of claim 1, having at least one of the followingproperties: Charpy impact of at least 7 KJ/m2, maximum tensile strengthof at least 1.3 MPa, elongation at brake of at least 2%, flexuralstrength of at least 2 MPa, and flexural modulus of at least 300 MPa.